1965 Ford Mustang Fastback - The Metalsmith's Mustang

Tim Grillot Flexed His Skills In Forging This Fastback

Just as the bank account was looking good, Tim and Adrianne found out that child number two was on the way. "At this point, I was about ready to throw in the towel, sell it off, and focus on the family," notes Tim. "After much encouragement from my supporting wife, and her telling me not to worry about how long it took and to just get it done, I finally pushed through." Sounds like Adrianne took a page out of Tim's project manager book.

Over the next three years, the shock towers gave way to a Heidts Mustang II-style frontend with coilovers, and the rear of the car was fitted with the company's four-link suspension with Panhard bar.

The 4.6L engine was dressed with a Sullivan intake manifold which was ceramic-coated by Jim Gegn of J&C Premier Concepts (Port Byron, Illinois). The intake was then topped off with a CSU 750-cfm blow-through carburetor that utilizes a boost-referenced power valve. An Extreme Velocity carb hat was employed to funnel the pressurized atmosphere that comes from the Precision Turbo & Engine PT70 turbocharger. After being compressed, the intake charge is cooled by an air-to-air intercooler, and a Tial blow-off valve and wastegate manage the airflow. Tim, of course, fabricated the entire turbo system from stainless steel.

Tim also modified the fuel system by welding a fuel sump to the factory fuel tank. He then plumbed in a -12 fuel supply line to the Magnaflow pump, and a -10 line from there to the Aeromotive regulator, which then feeds a pair of -8 lines that supply the CSU carburetor.

Fire comes from an MSD Mod 6 box that directs current to the stock coil-on-plug coils, and Tim uses a TurboSmart eBoost electronic boost controller and Western Motorsports wide-band air/fuel meter to tune the modular mill.

Behind the cammer engine is a stock iron flywheel, a Spec Stage 2+ clutch package, and a Tremec TKO five-speed transmission. Tim cut out the stock Mustang trans tunnel so he could adjust his driveline angles, and then fabricated a new tunnel section to close it back off. Connecting the gearbox to the Detroit True Trac-equipped Ford 9-inch rearend is an aluminum driveshaft. A set of 3.50 cogs spin the 17x10 1/2 custom American Racing Shelby Cobra wheels that are wrapped in Sumitomo HTR Z III high-performance tires.

The sticky Sumitomo summer rubber allows the late-model Cobra calipers to clamp down on the 13-inch front, and 11.65-inch rear rotors tightly. A Hurst Line Lock was plumbed in for times that require a proper burning of the rear tires.

The interior, though largely stock, has benefitted from Tim's fabrication talents as well. The stock seats were recovered, but Tim felt that they sat too high for his taste, so he lowered the driver seat 1 inch by cutting and refabricating the factory seat bracket. "It feels more like a modern car since I did that," says Tim. He created a new gauge cluster and fit it with a host of Auto Meter instruments, and he also installed a Flaming River tilt steering column with a Lecarra wheel. Tim also whipped up the new transmission shifter handle, and proceeded to rewire the entire car using a Painless Performance wiring harness.

If all of the aforementioned fabrication wasn't enough to satisfy your need for custom appointments, Tim tells us that he also built his own English wheel so he could hand bend the teardrop hood dome that he later welded to the factory hood. After that, Mike Kight of MK Autocraft (Moline, Illinois) massaged the rest of the bodywork and sprayed the PPG Performance Red hue that was pulled from the '93 Mustang Cobra.

Tim finally finished the Mustang, with the help of his 5-year-old son, in December 2009, and since then has put more than 4,000 miles on it.